


pining (of the awkward kind)

by eddiefuckinkaspbrak



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - High School, Awkward Sexual Situations, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, First Kiss, Fluff, Light Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, compromising positions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-22 03:35:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20867543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eddiefuckinkaspbrak/pseuds/eddiefuckinkaspbrak
Summary: prompt: pining! Reddie 5+1 where 5 times they accidentally get into compromising positions and feel awkward/brush it off, and the one time they do something about it?(written for Sara @richietoaster)





	pining (of the awkward kind)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [richietoaster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/richietoaster/gifts).

** _1\. In a closet _ **

It had started as just a normal day at school. Eddie had arrived with Richie and Bill before meeting up with the rest of the losers at their lockers. They were officially seniors in High School and in less than six months they would all be leaving Derry and it’s judging citizens behind in the dust. The only downside was that, thanks to failing all of his SAT’s, Henry Bowers had been held back and was still prowling around the school, being nothing but a pain for the losers. 

Most of the time they managed to avoid him, as he was either with the teachers, or he was skipping classes. Eddie often wondered if he ever really wanted to leave Derry High School, or if he was stuck in his weird ‘bullying’ stage. Probably the latter, he really was nothing but a piece of shit. 

As the final bell rang for the day, Eddie shoved his books into his bag and made a beeline for Richie’s locker, where he would be waiting for him. It was a Friday, and he always went to Richie’s for dinner on a Friday. His mother hated it at first, but there was really nothing she could do, he wasn’t a little kid anymore. Anyway, he definitely was never going to pass up on the chance to spend alone time with his best friend. 

It wasn’t like his crush on Richie was super obvious, but sometimes Eddie felt like he stared too long at the way Richie fixed his glasses, or licked his lips. Sometimes, Eddie had to hold himself back from just kissing the smug smile off of his best friends face. He never did though, there was no way. Richie could never find out about Eddie’s feelings, he would never let him live it down. 

Just as he rounded the corner, Eddie spotted Richie right away and he walked over to him. “Richard,” he half yelled in his ear, making Richie jump. “Gotcha.”

“Fucking hell, Eddie Spaghetti,” Richie laughed, running a hand through his hair. Eddie noticed that his cheeks were tinged a light red and he was about to ask him what was wrong when Henry rounded the corner from the other side, his eyes zeroing in on them. “Fuck.”

Before Eddie could even blink, Richie’s hand was wrapped around his wrist and they were running down the corridor at full speed with Henry right on their tails. Eddie was glad that he had taken up track, so he had enough stamina to outrun the bully who spent most of the day smoking and eating crap from the discount store. 

“In here,” Richie hissed, pulling open one of the janitors closets and pulled Eddie inside, closing the door as soon as they were both safe. The closet was tiny, only enough room for the two of them to stand, but not comfortably as they were pressed chest to chest, faces mere inches from each other.

Eddie felt his cheeks heat up as he felt Richie’s breath fanning over his face. They were so fucking close. Outside the closet, Henry’s running footsteps passed the closet and around the corner. The fact that the closet was dark, Eddie was pleased as his face and it’s redness couldn’t be seen. 

“Is he gone?” Eddie breathed and he heard Richie suck in a breath, as though he had just realised how close they really were. Richie was silent for a while before he cleared his throat and a hand brushed over Eddie’s arm as he reached for the door. It creaked open and since Eddie was the closer of the two, he peeked his head out. “I- yeah. He’s gone.”

Carefully, they both stepped out of the closet and back into the lit hallway. Eddie could still feel his cheeks burn and he glanced to the side to see Richie looked almost equally as flustered as he did. Not wanting to make the whole situation worse, Eddie cleared his throat, “Shall we?”

Richie looked over at him, something flashing in his eyes before he nodded and they headed to the exit. “Yeah, we shall.”

** _2\. Movie Night_ **

Richie was running late, as always. It was the Loser’s monthly movie night that took place at the end of every month and this time it was at Ben’s place. He was meant to have been there an hour earlier, but his dad asked him to help him out with something first and he was going to get twenty bucks out of it, so there was no way he was turning that down. 

He picked up the pace as he rounded the corner to the street where Ben lived, spotting his house on the corner. From where Richie was standing, he could see Bill’s car he had got from his parents for his seventeenth birthday and a little bit of jealousy flared up in his gut. Bill was the only loser so far with a car, and he always picked Eddie up when they were going to the other loser’s houses, as his mother refused to let him walk. 

The thought of Bill and Eddie alone in a car as they drove from place to place made Richie want to vomit. He knew it was stupid, as they were friends and Richie had no real claim over Eddie since he refused to tell him how he felt, but he couldn’t help it. He wanted to be the one driving Eddie around and picking him up from his house, not Bill. 

Crossing the street, Richie focused on Ben’s door and walked up the porch, knocking on the door. It was answered by Arlene, Ben’s mom, who smiled and stepped aside to let him in. He smiled and kicked off his shoes before heading down to the basement of Ben’s house, where they always had their movie nights as it was some sort of den. 

“And he finally arrives!” Stan called out as Richie stepped down into the basement, waving hello to everyone. They were already settled in their respective seats, the TV on pause as the movie was just ready to play the second Richie was settled.

“Sorry, Staniel. Dad had twenty bucks up for grabs, wasn’t going to turn it down,” Richie explained as he looked around the room for where he would be sitting. As he did so, his eyes landed on Eddie and Richie felt his soul almost leave his body. His best friend was dressed in his red short shorts, a white t-shirt and his white knee length socks. Eddie hadn’t worn that outfit since he was fifteen, so the fact that he was wearing it now was driving Richie insane. 

Ever since the previous week when he had been trapped in a closet with Eddie as they hid from Bowers, he had been staring at his best friend more and more. The space in the closet, where their mouths were so fucking close, just made Richie’s feelings for Eddie all the more prominent, and now he couldn’t fucking stop. 

Eddie was looking at him now, his brow furrowed into a confused, yet cute as fuck, gaze and Richie realised he had just been standing there like a fucking idiot for goodness knows how long. He noticed that the only available space was next to Eddie on the loveseat that was a bit too small to even be called that. 

“Are you just going to stand there?” Eddie asked and Richie shook his head, crossing the room slowly and sitting on the couch next to Eddie. The fact that the couch was so fucking small, caused their sides to be pressed right up against each other, the skin of Eddie’s bare thigh rubbing against Richie’s jean clad one. He swore internally at his decision not to wear his shorts that night. 

Bev pressed play on the movie and the lights were dimmed. It was some romantic comedy which had been pulled out of the hat, and Richie zoned out quite quickly. Instead, he focused on Eddie, who’s eyes were glued to the screen, drinking in each and every scene that was being shown. He watched his emotions change as the movie progressed, all the way to the end when he cried as one of the main couple passed away in the other’s arms. Unable to help himself, Richie wrapped an arm around Eddie’s shoulders, pulling him even closer. 

Eddie didn’t even try to protest, he just buried his head into Richie’s neck and cried, his lips occasionally brushing against his skin. Richie wasn’t even sure how long they sat there like that, but it must have been long enough for the movie to end as suddenly, the lights were being flicked on and Eddie was jumping away from him.

Both of their cheeks were bright red and Richie cleared his throat, running a hand through his hair. Not wanting to face the conversation of their position, he reached for the popcorn and threw some at Stan, laughing loudly as he shrieked about getting it stuck in his hair. 

That was a close one. 

** _3\. Twister _ **

Things were getting weird between him and Richie and Eddie fucking hated it. Before, when Eddie did something to tease Richie they soon fell back into their regular routine, but ever since the movie night when he had worn his short shorts things had been...off. 

Richie was avoiding him and whenever they were together as a group, he would sit next to someone else other than Eddie, which was not their routine. He was beginning to think that Bev had been wrong when it came to her observation that Richie had feelings for Eddie, as he refused to even look at him now. It was her idea for him to wear the shorts, hoping to make him do something, but all it did was push him away. 

Now a week had passed and they were having a game night at Bill’s house, something that they tried to do once a month too, just like movie night. He was already at Bill’s place and Richie was running late as usual. Everyone was waiting for him, as the twister board sat in the middle of the floor just waiting to be played. 

When Richie finally walked in, his eyes flitted over to Eddie’s almost immediately and he raised his hand in a wave. Richie did smile back, which was a good sign, before his eyes settled on the Twister board and he snorted, shaking his head. “Are you serious? I am not flexible enough for this game.”

“And you think we are?” Stan rolled his head, fixing his socks. “Suck it up Tozier, it was the game we picked and so it’s the game we’re playing. You know the rules.” 

Eddie watched Richie tense up a little before he nodded and proceeded to kick off his shoes. They all got into position and Stan, as the one who arrived first, spun the board, the game began. At first it was nothing but a mess of seven limbs all tangled together, giggling the whole time. Mike was the first one out, followed by Bill then Bev and then Ben. Out of the three that were left, Eddie himself was the most flexible, moving his body in weird ways to reach the colours. 

“Jesus Christ, Eds, you’re so fucking bendy,” Richie muttered under his breath as Stan slipped, falling to the ground, leaving just Eddie and Richie left in the game. Eddie was also very competetive, and he wanted to fucking win okay?

Not really thinking about his choice of words, Eddie blurted out, “Wouldn’t you like to see how bendy I can be,” which caused Richie to gasp, losing his balance. As he did so, he knocked Eddie over and he landed right on top of him, their faces mere inches from each other. If Eddie hadn’t shot his hands out to catch himself, their lips would have been pressed together. 

Silence stretched over the whole room as all their friends went silent, watching the scene unfold. Eddie blinked down at Richie, his cheeks slowly heating up as he tried to get his body to catch up with his brain and get the fuck off of his best friend. Richie looked shell-shocked, as though this position was the last place he ever wanted to be, which made Eddie’s stomach twist. 

Eventually, Eddie managed to force his body to move and he rolled off of Richie. He sat up, ready to apologise to his friend but Richie was already sitting up and running out of the room towards Bill’s ensuite. He felt a lump form in his throat and he looked at all his friends, especially Bev who was frowning in confusion. Everyone was still quiet until Ben cleared his throat and picked up the movie box. 

“Why don’t we watch a movie for the rest of the night?” He asked and everyone agreed. Before anyone could stop him, Eddie bagged the single chair, so he didn’t have to sit next to Richie and deal with the weird awkwardness. 

When Richie came back, he didn’t even say anything about the seating arrangements, and was silent for the rest of the night. 

Well, fuck.

** _4\. Hammock in the clubhouse_ **

They were all settled in the clubhouse, enjoying a free Saturday with no school projects or homework that needed to be done. One of the downsides to being a senior was all the homework and projects they had to do in order to prepare for their SAT’s. This particular Saturday though, they were all completely free. Bev and Ben were sitting on the couch reading a comic, Stan was showing Mike some birds in his bird book, Bill was working on Silver in the corner and Richie was lounging in the hammock. 

Eddie hadn’t arrived yet, and Richie felt guilty for thinking that he was a little happy he wasn’t. He knew that, as soon as Eddie arrived he would attempt to join Richie in the Hammock, as they always did. Richie just wasn’t sure that he could cope having Eddie so close to him without freaking out. 

His mind was in a frenzy ever since the movie night and then the game of twister. Every time he looked at Eddie, Richie’s heart started hammering fast in his chest and his palms became clammy. Even his jokes were falling flat when Eddie was in his presence. It had taken a lot of late night conversations with himself for Richie to admit that he was pretty much in love with Eddie, and he had no idea what to do about it. 

He couldn’t tell Eddie how he felt, he couldn’t tell anyone else how he felt but he knew he needed to get it off his chest. This lead Richie to standing by the kissing bridge, his dad’s knife in his hand, carving “R+E” into the wood. It was his own silent confession, and it took a little bit of the edge off. 

The hatch to the clubhouse opened up and Eddie’s legs appeared on the ladder, followed by the rest of his body. Richie peeked over his comic at his friend, who looked absolutely stunning, as always. He was dressed in his pants and a white polo, which was better than his short shorts. 

“Hey guys,” Eddie greeted, dusting himself off when he reached the bottom. Richie watched his eyes flit over to him on the hammock before he focused somewhere else. Suddenly, Richie was filled with the overwhelming thought that he _ didn’t _ want Eddie to sit anywhere else but with him. 

Before Eddie could even move to find a new place to sit, Richie cleared his throat and patted the hammock. “There’s plenty of room over here Eds, don’t want to cramp Benverly’s love fest over there.” Bev flipped him off and he blew her back a kiss before shifting over in the hammock to make room for Eddie. 

“Are you sure?” Eddie asked and Richie nodded in assurance, even though he could feel his heart rate pick up and his palms begin to sweat. Eddie kicked off his shoes and climbed into the hammock with Richie, his legs pressed up against Richie’s own. “Hey, Rich?”

Richie looked up over his glasses at Eddie, swallowing at the look on his face. Eddie’s expression was a mixture between hurt and a kicked bambi, and Richie hated it. “What’s up, Eds?”

“Are we okay?” He asked, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth and looking down at his lap. Richie felt his heart ache a little and he reached over, placing his hand on Eddie’s knee, squeezing it lightly. Eddie’s cheeks flushed and he looked up, their eyes meeting and Richie felt his heart lurch. Eddie was so fucking beautiful, all he wanted to do was kiss him.

“Of course we’re okay, Eds,” Richie croaked out and Eddie smiled softly, shifting a little closer to Richie so they were sitting mere inches from each other. It was like they were in their own little bubble, like none of the losers even existed right then. “We’re always going to be okay.”

Richie was about to say something else to Eddie, maybe even do something else, when Bill made a clatter, dropping his tool box and breaking the moment. Both of their cheeks flushed and they looked away from one another, settling back into the hammock on opposite sides. 

From across the room, both boys completely missed the dramatic roll of Stan’s eyes. 

** _5\. Hide and Seek_ **

“We are not five years old anymore, why are we playing hide and seek?” Eddie asked, crossing his arms as they all stood in the living room of Mike’s currently empty farmhouse. His grandfather was away for the weekend, leaving Mike in charge of the place, which was also an excuse to get all of his friends over. 

Bev laughed, wrapping an arm around Eddie’s shoulders and he didn’t have it in him to shove her off. “Because, Eddie, this place is _ huge _. It’s the perfect location for hide and seek, even you can’t deny it.” Eddie hated that Bev was right, but the thought of running around a dark farmhouse hiding from his friends was less than appealing. 

“Come on, Eds,” Richie piped up, appeared right next to him and Eddie sucked in a breath. For once he was glad it was dark, so Richie couldn’t see how red his face had become. “It’ll be fun, and if you’re scared, I’ll protect you.”

Stan snorted and he rolled his eyes, “Richie, you couldn’t even protect yourself, never mind Eddie.” The rest of the losers laughed and Richie stuck his tongue out. Unable to help himself, Eddie laughed too, his eyes still trained on Richie. 

“I’m going to count first,” Mike announced. “You all have one minute to hide and then I’ll come and find you, the first person I find is the next seeker and so on, so forth.” Everyone nodded in understanding and Mike turned around to start counting. 

Eddie shot off up the stairs like a bullet, trying to find a decent, yet simple place to hide. He didn’t want to be the first person to be found, as that meant he would have to be the seeker, and creep around the house in search of his friends. He loved them, he really did, but he wasn’t so confident they wouldn’t try and scare the living shit out of him. 

Richie would. He knew deep down that Richie would. No matter how much he loved the boy, if Richie scared the shit out of him he would probably ignore him for the rest of the night. 

As Eddie reached the second floor, he made a beeline for one of the bathrooms, climbing in behind the shower curtain and focusing on being as quiet as he possibly could. It was less than a few moments of silence before he heard the door open again and Eddie held his breath. There was no way Mike got up here so fast. Before he could admit defeat, the curtain pulled back and Richie stepped in, his eyes widening as they landed on each other. 

“Richie!” Eddie hissed quietly. “This is my hiding spot! Find your own!” He tried to push his friends back out of the shower but Richie wasn’t having it. “Richie!”

“Mike is already searching,” Richie whispered back, his voice actually quiet for once. “Let me hide here with you Eds, come on? Please?” He was begging now, and Eddie could just barely make out the puppy dog look Richie was making behind his coke bottle glasses. 

Sighing, Eddie nodded his head and stepped back so his back was pressed against the tiles of the shower, allowing Richie to completely climb into the bathtub. Instead of staying a little further back though, Richie stepped closer so they were almost pressed right up against each other. Eddie’s breathing hitched and he looked up at him, his eyes wide and curious, yet also confused. What was Richie doing? “Rich?” He breathed, quiet. 

Carefully, Richie reached a hand up to run his hand through Eddie’s hair, swallowing a little, “Do you- do you feel this too, Eds?” He asked and Eddie felt his mouth run dry. 

Was Richie asking him what he thought he was asking him? 

Hope surged in Eddie’s chest and he was about to answer when the door to the bathroom shot open and the light was switched on. A groan left Richie’s lips as the curtain was pulled back to reveal a grinning Mike, and behind him Ben. “Found you!”

“Great timing there, Mikey.” Richie mumbled, running a hand over the back of his neck and stepping out of the bath. Eddie felt a bitter taste fill his mouth as he smiled at both Mike and Ben, following Richie out. The moment was ruined and there was no way he had the courage to bring it up with Richie. 

Stupid Hide and Seek.

** _+1 Play fighting on a bed_ **

Richie fucking hated himself more than he had ever hated himself before. He had almost told Eddie how he felt, almost _ kissed _ him. If MIke hadn’t found them when he did, Richie was certain that they would have been found with his tongue down Eddie’s throat. 

God did he want to kiss Eddie on his perfect lips so fucking bad. 

They were currently in Eddie’s room, Richie sprawled out on the floor as Eddie was laying on his bed on his stomach. He had a pencil stuck between his teeth as he pondered over the math puzzle and Richie was dying inside at how fucking soft his lips looked. There was no way he was going to last much longer without telling Eddie how he felt, or at least acting on it. 

“Ugh, Eds, please can we take a break?” Richie groaned, flopping onto his back as he shoved his discarded homework away. They had been working on it for over three hours now, and Richie was positive his brain was about to explode. Yeah, he was a smart kid, but there was only so much math one guy can process in one sitting. “My head is going to explode if we don’t do something that doesn’t involve Pi.”

Eddie looked up and he sat his pencil down on the book before pushing it away also and sitting up. “Well, what do you want to do?” He asked, tilting his head to the side. “We can watch a movie or something? My mom will be out for a while still so you don’t have to leave yet.”

As much as Richie would have loved to watch a movie with Eddie, he had something else in mind. “My body is so stiff, Eds. I need to do a little exercise,” he stretched his limbs out, not missing the blush that appeared on Eddie’s cheeks. 

“What- what did you have in mind?” Eddie asked and Richie stood up, smirking at Eddie just a little. “Richie- why are you staring at me like that? What are you-” Richie cut him off by lunging at him, his hands finding his stomach, tickling Eddie as much as he could as his laugh filled the room. “R-R-Richie! S-Stop!”

There was no way Richie was stopping, digging his fingers into Eddie’s side. What he didn’t count on was Eddie hooking his legs around his waist and flipping them over, gaining the upper hand as _ he _ began to tickle-assault Richie. “F-Fuck!” Richie giggled. “Y-You l-little f-fucker!”

Their laugher filled the room as both of them attempted to tickle the other until exhaustion began to settle in. Eddie got tired first, and Richie took advantage as he flipped them back over, taking a hold of the smaller boys wrists and holding them at either side of his head. 

“Gotcha!” Richie grinned down at him triumphantly before he really realised the position they were in. When it settled in and Richie caught his breath, he looked down, breath hitching at how close Eddie and his faces were. Eddie’s eyes were wide as saucers but deep within them there was something else. Hope, maybe?

Right then, Richie had two options. He could either sit up and move off of Eddie as he had done for the past five times they had ended up in a similar situation, brushing it off as though it were nothing, or he could suck it up like a man and kiss him. Unable to hold back from _ finally _ having what he always wanted, Richie leaned down and closed the distance between them, planting a soft kiss right on Eddie’s lips. 

Eddie froze up a little as soon as their lips brushed and Richie was about to pull away when he felt the lips move back against his own. Eddie moved his hand, which Richie released and Eddie reached up to bury it into Richie’s curls, pulling him closer. It was like all of his dreams had come true, but the only way Richie knew he wasn’t dreaming was because he never actually got to kiss Eddie before he woke up. 

Kissing Eddie was better than Richie ever could have imagined it would be, their lips moving together in perfect sync. They were soft and plump, pressing just perfectly against Richie’s like they were meant to always kiss each other. He was enjoying it so much, that when Eddie started to pull away for air, Richie let out a whine and tried to pull him back.

“W-Wait,” Eddie gasped, letting Richie press another kiss to his lips before he did pull away, looking down at Eddie’s beautiful form with curious eyes. “Did- did that just happen?” He asked. 

Richie blinked and slowly nodded his head, “It- yeah it did....do you regret it?” He asked quietly and slowly Eddie shook his head. “Oh- fuck good because...Eds I like you and I don’t want that to be a one time thing.”

With a smile, Eddie pushed up on his elbows and kissed Richie once more, soft and sweet, making Richie’s head spin. “I like you too, a lot. I don’t want this to be a one time thing either.”

Both of them were beaming from ear to ear, finally breathing in the fact that they had each other. Richie pressed their foreheads together, soaking Eddie in with his eyes as much as he could. “Let me take you out this weekend?”

Eddie bit his lip and smirked, as though he was thinking it over. After a second he grinned, pecking Richie’s lips just softly and nodding his head. 

“Absolutely.”


End file.
